Rowan County's clerk prayed and fasted over her decision to refuse marriage licenses for same-sex couples, she testified in federal court, and she said believes she is upholding her oath under the Constitution.

Clerk Kim Davis' refusal to provide licenses has drawn wide attention after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that marriage is a fundamental right for all couples. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear ordered clerks to comply with the decision.

"It wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment decision," Davis said. "It was thought out, and I sought God on it."

The Catholic faith tradition "offers a unique perspective on crime and punishment, one grounded in mercy and healing, not punishment for its own sake," two bishops said in a statement renewing the U.S. Catholic church's push to end the death penalty.

"No matter how heinous the crime, if society can protect itself without ending a human life, it should do so. Today, we have this capability," wrote Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami.

Europe must agree on shared financial and social policies to offset the risk of another crisis that almost saw Greece quit the eurozone, said a European bishops' commission.

A Thursday statement issued by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, expressed relief that a bailout package had prevented the "Grexit" -- the prospect of Greece abandoning the euro currency and returning to using the drachma.